Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence in June 1776. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and the Continental Congress then edited it.
The Continental Congress appointed a committee of five to prepare the document: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston. The committee chose Jefferson, then 33, to write the draft, partly because of his reputation as a skilled writer.
Jefferson wrote the draft in a rented room in Philadelphia over about two weeks. Adams and Franklin suggested changes, and Congress made dozens more, cutting about a quarter of the text, including a passage condemning the slave trade.
Famous words
The Declaration's second paragraph contains its best-known lines: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, with rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Jefferson later became the third US president.
Did You Know?
Jefferson asked that his tombstone mention three achievements: writing the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and founding the University of Virginia. It does not mention his presidency.